Barring a setback, Cutler to start vs. Browns

Trestman on QB decision: 'This has been the plan'

December 11, 2013|By Rich Campbell, Tribune reporter

Josh McCown, come on down and collect your NFC offensive player of the week award!

You can take it with you back to the bench.

Such is life for the NFL’s hottest backup quarterback. McCown this week is expected to yield to Bears’ first-stringer Jay Cutler, who’s positioned to return Sunday against the Browns from the high left ankle sprain that has sidelined him for the last four games.

Coach Marc Trestman on Thursday morning plans to reinstall Cutler as the starter, barring an unexpected setback during or after the workout Cutler performed for team coaches and medical staff Wednesday.

“He has been cleared to work out at full speed,” Trestman said Wednesday shortly before 1 p.m.

McCown’s return to the sideline isn’t exactly a deserved reward for guiding the Bears to five touchdowns and three field goals on their eight meaningful possessions in a season-saving victory over the Cowboys on Monday night.

However, Trestman considers Cutler to be a superior quarterback — he called Cutler’s physical skill set “unique” last month. So the Bears, despite McCown’s exceptional production, will change quarterbacks while tied with the Lions for first place in the NFC North with three games remaining.

“Josh has done exactly what we’ve asked him to do,” Trestman said. “He has performed very, very well as a backup, and he understands his role. We have a very close quarterback room. Guys are resolute in terms of how we operate and how we work.”

Trestman’s decision to change quarterbacks near the climax of a postseason race could define his first season as coach. Then again, Trestman never treated this as a choice.

When Cutler sat out the Packers game last month with a groin tear, and during the four games he has missed because of the ankle, Trestman insisted Cutler’s place on the depth chart was secure. He never wavered, even as McCown’s statistics reflected a quarterback operating the offense efficiently, perhaps more so than Cutler’s.

The Bears this season have averaged 6.55 yards per play with McCown at quarterback and 5.75 with Cutler, excluding kneel-downs and spikes that manage the clock. As a reference point, the Broncos lead the NFL with a 6.31-yards-per-play average.

McCown and Cutler each have thrown 13 touchdowns, but McCown has only one interception while Cutler has eight. McCown has completed 66.8 percent of his passes; Cutler is at 63.0. McCown’s passer rating is 109.8, and Cutler’s is 88.4.

“We’re certainly very, very happy about the way Josh has performed,” Trestman said, “but this has been the plan, and we’re going to execute it when Jay is ready to come back.”

Cutler is expected to address the media Thursday for the first time since he suffered the injury Nov. 10.

McCown, meanwhile, has handled the situation with aplomb. At 34, it’s not difficult to envision a scenario in which he has played his last meaningful game, yet he never has attempted to push through the glass ceiling. On the contrary, he has gone out of his way to keep it intact and squeaky clean.

“The team knows who the starting quarterback is and, like I said before, I know my job as the backup,” McCown said after Monday’s game. “I want to play efficient football, winning football and keep us in contention while the starter is not healthy. As long as Jay is healthy and ready to go, I don’t think that’s any question.”

The Bears did not have a normal practice Wednesday because players still are recovering from the physical toll of Monday night’s game. But Trestman’s plan was to run Cutler through a normal Wednesday practice script to gauge his health.

Trestman wanted to see Cutler drop back to pass, redirect in the pocket and “try to get as much suddenness as we can,” he said. Cutler quarterbacked the scout team at practice Thursday and Friday, so Trestman was confident in Cutler’s ability to pass any physical test.

The team did not address how the workout went.

“It’s a tough situation because Josh is playing so awesome right now,” receiver Brandon Marshall said Tuesday on WMVP-AM 1000 while filling in for Cutler on the quarterback’s weekly show. “But you have to go with your guy. Jay is our franchise quarterback. You have to stick with him. Jay was awesome before he got hurt.”